Liverpool's admiration for Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Alexis Mac Allister is no secret, and the Merseyside outfit are now said to be closing in on the World Cup winner following recent reports.
What's the latest on Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool?
According to Football Insider, the Reds' recruitment team is 'progressing with talks' to sign the Argentinian dynamo, who has emerged as one of the Premier League's hottest commodities this season.
The 24-year-old is reportedly valued at £70m by Albion, who are reluctant to let their prized asset go but are increasingly resigned to allowing him to depart, with a release clause in his contract supposedly enabling this summer.
While Liverpool are in pole position for a prospective transfer, Chelsea and Manchester United are said to be right behind Jurgen Klopp's outfit and will certainly pounce if negotiations hit a bump in the road.
What is Alexis Mac Allister's style of play?
The £50k-per-week South American has been part of a wave of remarkable recruitment from Brighton over the past few years, the centrepiece of the club's ascension to prominence over the past few seasons.
Signing from Argentinos Juniors on a four-and-half-year deal in 2019, Mac Allister has made 109 appearances for the Seagulls, scoring 20 goals and providing eight assists.
This season, he has scored 12 goals and served two assists from 37 matches across all competitions for Albion, who are currently sixth in the Premier League with a game in hand on their European-chasing rivals as the season approaches its culmination.
The 16-cap Argentine played a definitive role in his nation's triumphant 2022 World Cup campaign in Qatar, starting matches and recording an average rating of 7.05 – as per Sofascore – scoring once and registering an assist, completing 89% of his passes and averaging 1.5 tackles per match, hailed as "very intelligent" by his compatriot Sergio Aguero.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 2% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues for total shots, the top 24% for shot-creating actions, the top 22% for progressive carries and the top 17% for successful take-ons per 90, heralded as Brighton's "golden boy" by content creator Ryan Adsett for his burgeoning role.
Klopp will be seeking to utilise his transfer funds aptly this summer and seek to narrow the gulf that has formed between his outfit and that of Manchester City, who are very much on course to complete a historic treble this season.
By signing Mac Allister, the German gaffer could emulate the success of Citizens star Ilkay Gundogan, who has been instrumental in his side's illustrious success since signing for £21m in 2016 and has been in fine fettle of late, at the term's defining stage.
The industrious German midfielder, also described as "intelligent" by Pep Guardiola, played 117 times under Klopp's wing at Borussia Dortmund and won the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal, now one of Europe's most prominent midfield names.
Gundogan ranks among the top 1% of midfielders for non-penalty goals, the top 20% for progressive carries and the top 16% for shot-creating actions per 90, with discernible similarities to Mac Allister's own game.
Liverpool must sign Mac Allister, reigniting the relentless core that has somewhat waned at Anfield this season and cementing himself as the nucleus of his outfit's endeavours.
